Forces under stress: Special Ops Command fighting to retain seasoned warriors.

The Special Operations Command is struggling to retain its most experienced personnel while it moves to fill a growing role in the U.S. war against terrorism,

Special operators--including Army Special Forces, Rangers, psychological operators and civil affairs experts; Navy sea, air and land teams, and Air Force special-tactics aircrews--have been on the front lines in much higher numbers since 9/11, in Afghanistan and then in the invasion of Iraq, and anti-terror missions in the Philippines and the Horn of Africa.

Traditionally, SOCOM personnel have conducted missions that were requested and planned by U.S. regional commanders. In 2003, however, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered the command to take the lead in planning the war on terror and even to rtm some of-the operations itself.

As a result of these changes, "special operations forces are employed in greater numbers today than at anytime in our history," said Army Col. Kenneth Cull, SOCOM's deputy personnel director.

Special operators could become even busier if the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States gets its way. It has recommended that SOCOM take on responsibility for directing and executing the paramilitary operations now conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Tb help keep up with its expanding missions, SOCOM has received a series of budget increases, 35 percent in fiscal 2004 and another 50 percent in 2005, l-or a current total of $6.5 billion. The command also has been authorized to add 5,100 troops over the next five years, which would bring its total force to about 52,000 active-duly and reserve personnel.

Recruiting new special operators over the long haul, however, will not "provide immediate relief [for the heavier operational tempo], because special operations forces cannot be mass-produced," SOCOM's chief, Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, told a congressional comMittee.

The problem is especially significant now, with SOCOM losing some of its most experienced personnel in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. In April, for example, Army Sgt. Maj. Michael B. Stack, the senior enlisted man in Company C, 2nd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), died when his convoy was ambushed near Baghdad.

SOCOM also is beginning to lose many of its veterans not to combat, but to the lure of civilian jobs, and Brown wants to change that. It is "critically important that we are able to retain those individuals who have vast expertise and experience, especially as they become retirement eligible at the peak of their value to the armed services," he said. "Competition with the civilian world has never been greater."

Retention problems are being exacerbated by the fact that many special operators, who joined SOCOM when it was created in 1987, are beginning to reach military retirement age.

Four of the command's most-senior enlisted men--each with at least 27 years of active-duty experience--explained the situation during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities.

Most experienced special operators don't want to leave the service, said Force Master Chief Clell Breining, senior enlisted advisor to the Naval Special Warfare Command, headquartered at Coronado, Calif. "People wantto todo this job," he said. "But the longer they're here, the mole pay becomes an issue."

Retirement becomes increasingly attractive as an operator approaches 20 years of service, said Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall, senior enlisted advisor to the Army Special Operations Command, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.

"At the 20-year mark, you're about 38 years old, 40 years old," Hall said. "If you want to start another career, where you can get some retirement, that's about the decision time.

With 20 years in, many special operators are burdened by mortgage payments and children's college expenses, Hall said. As a result, he said, higher civilian pay looks especially attractive.

A senior noncommissioned officer, approaching 20 years of service, who makes $50,000 a year, plus a housing allowance and special-duty pay, can earn up to $85,000 annually doing much of the same work for federal civilian agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, Secret Service or Transportation Security Administration. Many of those jobs come without the frequent deployments and daily physical danger involved in military special operations, officials said.

A time-tested operator can earn even more, perhaps as much as $200,000 per year, with some private contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan. Halliburton, for example, has 24,000 employees working in Iraq and Kuwait, many of them former special operators. "It's real risky work, but it pays a lot better," Hall said.

Senior special operators are not easy to replace, officials said. Volunteers must go through months of arduous training and years of seasoning, Breining said. "It takes six to eight years to produce an experienced operator."

Over time, special operators develop into "mature, operationally experienced" individuals, and their units become "extremely dependent" on them, said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Robert V. Martens Jr., SOCOM's senior enlisted advisor.

Their tactical skills are "honed by combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan" giving them "a culturally sensitive, global-war-on-terror focused brand of leadership second to none," Martens said. "They are independent thinkers who are routinely expected to make tactical-level decisions during the execution of sensitive and dangerous missions that can have strategic impact."

These attributes "make [special operators] highly valuable to the Department of Defense," Martens said. They "also make them highly valuable to the civilian world."

The challenge SOCOM faces is difficult, but manageable, Cull said. To relieve the strain on units normally assigned to the Central Command, where about 75 percent of operational deployments are going, SOCOM is bringing in forces that usually cover other regions, as well as Reserve and National Guard special operators. The command also is increasing the size of some active-duty units, such as civil affairs and psychological operations. At the same time, some reservists--such as special operations air refuelers--are being redirected into active duty.

In addition, SOCOM is working with the regular military services and the defense secretary's office to identify new incentives, such as salary increases and improved reenlistment bonuses, retirement benefits and educational opportunities to encourage reenlistments.

Recent pay raises already have made a significant difference, Hall said. Pay far all military personnel, across the board, has increased nearly 20 percent since fiscal in 2002. Housing allowances, family separation stipends and imminent-danger pay also has gone up.

One problem, Breining said, is that military families come to rely upon the allowances as part of their family incomes, but when retirement pay is calculated the allowances don't count. That is significant, he said, because "the older our people get, the more they want to know, 'What's my retirement pay going to be?'"

A powerful incentive would be to improve post-retirement educational benefits, said Chief Master Sgt. Howard J. Mowry, the senior enlisted advisor to the Air Force Special Operations Command, based at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Special operators are deployed more often than other military personnel, he said. "We don't always have the opportunity to pursue educational benefits as often as we'd like."

Also, he asked, why not make those benefits transferable to other family members?

Rep. Jim Saxton, subcommittee chairman, has asked SOCOM for recommendations for improving retention of senior personnel. Cull said that SOCOM expects to have a list ready for discussion by the end of this month.

U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

ARMY SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

* Special Forces

* Rangers

* Psychological Operations

* Civil Affairs

* Night Stalker aviators 

NAVAL SPECIAL WARFARE COMMAND

* Sea, air and land (SEAL) teams

* SEAL delivery vehicle teams

* Special boat squadrons and units

AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND

* Special-tactics aircrews

* Combat-weather aircrews

* Combat search-and-rescue aircrews

* Commando Solo psychological operations aircrews